By now, most of us know how to do the basics on Twitter – send a tweet, use a hashtag, follow another user. In an AlleyBoost class at Mercy College, entrepreneur and freelance web developer Max Savin taught how to scale those personal interactions that make Twitter such a popular social media platform to benefit business. Here is a recap of Savin’s class, where he revealed advanced methods to optimize Twitter to market business and convert social media to customers.

Google ads and SEO have become the traditional, conventional methods in online marketing. Savin said Google is actually ineffective because ads are expensive – each click costs $1 to $5. Plus, it can take up to three months for the site to update its index. Small companies don’t have that much time to test if their online marketing strategy works.

Twitter is a better ROI, the investment being time and some money for outside services (listed below) that help with targeted marketing. Savin says with his strategies, each day business can gain 200-500 real, targeted “followers”, receive 50-150 website visitors, acquire new customers and build a community.

Twitter is a personal, effective and – best of all – free way to reach a targeted audience. To every Twitter action, “favorite” or “reply,” the person on the other end receives emails and notifications. Even the emails look like an advertisement. And what other type of “advertisement” is as gratifying for the consumer as a notification of a social like?

Before reaching out to customers, Savin says to ensure your businesses’ profiled and header photos, description and first three tweets are perfect (you can edit this in settings → edit profile). Keep up to date with the account so “followers” see the business as credible and relevant. Also, push out good content that is curated for your followers.

Then you can start reaching out to potential customers.

1. Find potential customers Use Twitter’s advanced search feature to find the people who could be interested in your business. Twitter hides this, so Google “Twitter advanced search,” or click here. With this search, you can find exactly who you want – people that are talking about something relevant to your business, in a certain location, speaking a certain language, etc.

2. “Favorite” their tweets “Favoriting” a tweet is Twitter’s equivalent to a Facebook like. It’s really simple and people like it. Savin calls it a powerful tap on the shoulder.

When someone’s tweet is favorited, they receive a notification, which not only feels good but also tells them your business exists. The conversion rate is “favorite” is 1-5%.

Splurky uses information from the Search query to automatically favorite new tweets every hour (To write this article I accidentally signed up and it worked – maybe too well). The TurboClicker plug-in will favorite tweets for you.

Twitter allows 2,000 favorites per day. Unlike Facebook, Twitter doesn’t push that information in your newsfeed and it’s a bit harder to find (if you click more on the header of someone’s Twitter profile, favorites is an option). It’s unlikely that other users will notice you’ve gone on a favoriting spree. However, this technique is best for small companies, since you could accidentally favorite stupid tweets. That would look bad for a public company.

3. “Follow” people A follow basically means you’re subscribing to someone’s tweets and their tweets will now show up in your Twitter newsfeed. It’s more involved than just a “favorite”.

You can also follow the people found using Advanced Search. Another way is with an app like Tweepi, which automatically follows other user’s followers that are active on Twitter. So if you want to reach out to all the people that follow a competitor, or another company with the same demographic, use this. Flutter also does this more accurately, and Turbo clicks for you. Twitter allows a maximum of 1,000 follows/day and has a ratio rule – for every follower you can follow 1.1 people. These apps will help you unfollow people that don’t follow back within 24 hours or who are not active on Twitter.

4. Direct message A direct message is private like a Facebook message or an email, but users view it on Twitter. If you want to thank someone for a follow, a DM is a good way to do it so your feed isn’t filled with @whoever thanks for the follow! It looks spammy.

If you’re going to send a DM, use it as an opportunity to add value. Example, “Thanks for the follow, come in to our store by the end of the month and receive 10% off.” If you’re getting a lot of followers, you can use SocialOomph.com and AutoDirectMessage.com, to set up automatic response.

5. Measure resultsTwitter analytics keeps track of which tweets have been read and by how many people. (You have to sign up for Twitter’s ad program, but it is free). followerwonk.com checks demographic data and bufferapp.com will send out Tweets based on when most people are looking.

With these tricks, you can get the most out of Twitter’s functions and make friendly online interactions that can turn into real business.

Twitter continues to stay on top for social networking because it offers users a platform to connect, build relationships and reveal some personality. Anyone can tweet away on this fun social networking platform. But, those who use it best realize it is an extension of themselves and ultimately, their online image.

Most of the time, Twitter accounts are public pages that anyone can see. (Think potential employers, professors, colleagues, constituents, etc.). All the more reason to give your Twitter page a check-up.

If any of the “signs” below apply to you, you may need to tweak your Twitter.

1. Your bio could get you mistaken for a spam Twitter account.

“Smile once a day and it will all be okay ”

“Partying is what I do”

“UD girl living and loving *<3*”

Ok, I made those up, but they definitely resemble some bios I’ve seen! For a website that only lets you type 140-character messages, Twitter offers a generous amount of header space. Use it to your advantage! Upload an appropriate head shot and background picture. In your bio, include specific information about yourself. You can mix some professional facts like where you go to school, your major, your internship title, and some personal information, like you love the Phillies. Use this to let people know what kind of things you will tweet about.

With a good bio, whoever’s looking at your page will see what makes you stand out and learn some solid background information. Don’t let them know too much, though.

2. Your followers know your party routine from your tweets.

Glaring grammar and spelling errors in tweets late at night, posting about partying and bars or retweeting “party” accounts are signs that you’re party-tweeting. It’s fine to party, but leave tweeting out of it. Partying is too personal for Twitter. If a potential employer knows your favorite bar after finding your tell-all Twitter page through a quick Google search, consider yourself not hired.

3. You only follow and retweet accounts like I’m Shmacked, UD Makeoutz and Condescending Wonka.

Who you follow says a lot about you, especially if you retweet or favorite their tweets. Reporters, industry leaders, politicians, companies and knowledgeable people/brands push out information all day – for free! Just click to follow them, and you will have a constant feed of important, relevant information. Plus, it looks good to follow a variety of people.

4. It’s all about you.

a) “Got home at 4 a.m. with 3 bruises and a cracked #iPhone #oopsididitagain!”

b) “Just slipped on the ice #ow #slippery #fml”

c) “OMG can’t wait for Saturday! @ally435 #weekendfun”

d) “donuts are such a good breakfast #noshame”

Some fixes that are beneficial to followers and make you look more intelligent:

a) Starting my day at 7 this morning, waking up an extra 10 minutes early is productive according to NYTimes (cool article here)

d) Stopped by @CafeVentana for a donut, they have done a great job re-branding. See my review here (link)

Keep your audience in mind when you tweet. Use Twitter as an opportunity to give an opinion on something worthy, show knowledge about a topic, or share something interesting or useful – like a great article or something you wrote. Also connect to others my mentioning them, retweeting and favoriting tweets. Others could be companies you want to work for, potential mentors, someone you’re trying to stay in touch with, etc. Reaching out on Twitter builds relationships, the main goal of social media.

Use this tips to be a savvy social media butterfly.

I wish you happy tweaking and careful tweeting.

How would you fix those tweets, or some of your own? What Twitter tweaks can you make?

Twitter is not, like many tweeters think, a place to post what you’re doing all day long. At this weekend’s conference, Sree Sreenivasan, technology expert and dean of student affairs at Columbia School of Journalism, said Twitter is a place of business and a great place to have a 2-way connection with anyone. He said one of his students tweeted at Katie Couric and she replied. That would have never happened with an email or phone call. Twitter is powerful, so using it in the best possible way is important!

Below are great Twitter tips I learned at the Social Media Conference at Columbia from a variety of speakers. To see an example of a great Twitter user, check out Brian Stelter, @brianstelter, NY Times media reporter.

Sree’s Top 12 Tips

Spend time writing tweets, Sree takes 3-5 minutes to craft his tweets

Keep your followers in mind when you tweet (find out top followers on twiangulate.com)

Do not bore your followers, keep them happy so they continue to follow you

Make only 1 in 5 Tweets about yourself

Save the “humble brag” for Facebook

Make tweets blue, follow format “@someone, link, photo, #something” when you can

You can never follow enough people! But as soon as someone gets boring, unfollow them

Thought 140 characters was short? Make tweets 120 or less

Make username short so it’s easy to mention in tweets, and don’t use an underscore

Be generous, following someone is one of the nicest things to do on Twitter

Make your bio specific: include name so people will find you, say what you tweet (look at Stelter’s bio, very specific and informative)

Don’t just hit “retweet”, instead take the time to copy it then tweet: RT @originaltweeter (paste what they wrote). This way they will know you RTed them

Update your bio frequently as what your tweeting about changes, especially if you get a new job, from Melissa Mistal, @MaggieMistal, host of “Making a Living with Maggie” on Martha Stewart Living Radio

When looking for a job, there’s a difference between stalking and seeking! Don’t reply or mention potential employers excessively, from David Gaspin, @davidgaspin, Head of Talent Acquisition at TheLadders.com

Be open and friendly. Respond to people, thank them, mention them. Stelter always replies and his bio has all his contact information. (not necessary but definitely friendly), from David Gaspin

When tweeting, don’t forget all the rules journalists already follow. Check grammar and be ethical, from Serbino Sandifer-Walker, @sswalker, journalism professor at Texas Southern University

Have an interesting background on your Twitter page, put professional information in Twitter bio and something a bit personal, to add character from Mauricio, @rightmau, strategist at ROKKANmedia

Find a # that relates to your field and mention in in tweets to connect

Helpful lingo and sites, some taken from Shorty Awards “Short Tweet Guide” from Gregory Galant, @gregory, CEO/co-founder of Sawhorse Media